Omega
by HeroineHiding
Summary: Two teams, both notorious for their villainous ventures, are forced One team seeks to preserve a historic relic, the other to destroy the museum it's in. The question: Are they friends, or enemies? Please note the story takes place in between "Escape Velocity" and "Interception Point" (HIVE) and "The Arctic Incident" and "The Eternity Code" (AF).
1. Prologue: Parley

The man was veiled in darkness, but the informant could see him clearly through his goggles. The man cocked his head, an imposing figure with patiently folded hands. As a rule, mud men were ugly and typically to be avoided, but this man was making an offer the boss would have drooled over, were she conscious.

"It's a simple, simple deal," the man said. "And we would only borrow her for a short time. I'm sure she would understand."

"She does not like to be interrupted," the informant replied nervously. "But she would most likely accept your offer. Assuming I can get her to you, what then?"

"Then we shall trade."

The informant nodded. "I will see what I can do."

It was many days before the man got a response. He checked his special communication device no less than three times a day, but he never received anything. What he could not see was his informant carefully infiltrating his mistress's tower, the painstaking hours it took to bribe a certain back-door to let him borrow her for a few days, the trouble it took to transport her back up to the surface, and then the long wait to contact the man and let him know he had been successful. The informant sighed, glad to be rid of this business and left the room where she was sleeping. She had received the necessary drugs to wake her up, she would soon be alert and able. The informant didn't want to be around when that happened.

The man, however, was intrigued, silently coming into the room and watching his counterpart gently slumber. She was clearly a sleeping beauty, but while that princess had been woken by a gentle kiss, this one was awakened by the cocktail that sent her adrenalin spinning.

"Where am I?" she demanded at once, very much aware things were not going as planned.

"Forgive me, my dear," the man said. "I do not intend to harm you, but I am afraid I was forced to wake you. You see, I require your assistance."

The fairy tried to sit up, but the man pushed her back down.

"No, my dear," he said. "Lie down, give yourself some time to adjust."

The fairy took deep breaths, doing her best to remain calm despite the undesirable circumstances. This human didn't even have the respect to refer to her as a queen, or anything else as majestic, nor did he seem to respect the rule to let sleeping fairies lie. The man paced the room, always watching her silhouette, yet always keeping the distance of a gentleman, being calm, cool, and collected.

"Tell me," the fairy said at last.

"I wish to bargain for weapons," he said. "You know those which I speak of."

"And why should I make a bargain with you for them?" she asked haughtily. "You don't deserve them. You are a mud man."

"Because I can offer you extensive access in our world, which I know you covet," the man replied. "That I can promise you, and you will not be disappointed."

"And for what purpose do you plan to use these weapons?" the fairy asked.

"I have enemies," the man replied. "I plan to get rid of them."

The fairy laughed. "I have enemies of my own, and yet my weapons have not yet defeated them."

"Ah, but my enemies are only human."

"So are mine. One in particular: a teenage boy, Artemis Fowl. He is a nuisance, he led to this downfall, and I will wreak my revenge upon him."

The man seemed to smile, although she could not yet clearly make out his face. "What do you say to an act of good faith on my part? We bring our enemies together, kill them together, and make our exchange."

The fairy considered this. "Very well. I accept. Shall we go over the details?"

"Rest," the man said. "Call for me when you have fully recovered, and then we shall transform our world forever."

The fairy smiled. She liked the sound of that. The man was right, however, she would need some good, old-fashioned sleep before she did anything else. She drifted off, and the man left her. He hid his emotions deep within his chest, but they were unmistakable. This would be the plan, _the_ plan, that would not only change the world, but the world of every single student at H.I.V.E.

He couldn't wait.


	2. Chapter 1: Exodus

_**3 DAYS EARLIER**_

Artemis Fowl the second was asleep when Butler knocked on his bedroom door.

"Artemis," the bodyguard said. "Wake up."

Artemis sat up drowsily, finding himself still in bed, and immediately managed to recall his alarm should have gone off so he would have enough time to prepare for his plane trip.

"What time is it?" he asked urgently.

"It's 3:30 in the morning," Butler replied. "Get dressed."

Artemis silently did as instructed, but could not help but wonder why his bodyguard and oldest friend would insist on waking him an hour and a half early. In fact, he rather resented it.

"Holly wants to talk to you," Butler said. Artemis tiptoed down the stairs to the ground floor.

"Holly?" Artemis whispered, fearful of waking his parents. "Did it really have to be this early?"

"I'm sorry, Artemis," Holly blushed. "But I need your help."

"What seems to be the trouble?" Artemis sat down, taking a seat on the couch across from the elf.

"Foaly's technology detected an artifact of great value to us," Holly said. "A diadem, I think you would call it, with some magical stones Foaly says could be very useful to us."

"And you want me to steal it for you," Artemis finished.

Holly bit her lip. "Well, the thing is, Artemis, it's under high security inside a building—which you know we can't enter—and right now there's a political uproar over fairy rights to use the _mesmer_. Root's ordered us to hold off on it."

"And I want it," Foaly added, speaking into Holly's earpiece. "Really, really bad."

"Foaly believes it would be vital to something he's working on right now," Holly said.

"How did it get into a high-security building in the first place?" Butler asked.

"It was lost many years ago," Holly explained. "We think maybe some of your archaeologists found it and are keeping it there for study. They wouldn't realize it's magical, of course, but they could damage or lose it. We want to protect it, and make sure it's safe."

Artemis nodded, although he did not look entirely convinced, as of yet. Holly grimaced as Foaly muttered another few sentences in her ear, but she managed to force out the words.

"We'd be willing to pay you."

"How much?" Artemis asked.

Holly said a number with a satisfactory number of zeroes.

"Very well," Artemis said. "Tell me everything you know."

_**NOW**_

Doctor Maximilian Nero would have looked out the window if he could, but on those the Higher Institute of Villainous Education was unusually short. Instead, he looked to the black marble wall of his office, his eyes running over the faces of his successful students captured in newspaper clippings and old security footage.

"I'm running out of patience with those six," Nero murmured. "I'd really rather not let them off the island at this time."

"Come on, Max," Diabolus Darkdoom pleaded. "A little fresh air will be good for them. Besides, you _know_ we need them and between the two of us and Raven we'll have them secured."

"I'll buy that we need them," Nero sighed. "But you can't make me like it."

"I don't fancy a road trip through France with the lot of them either, but to make this work I'm going to need your full support," Darkdoom said seriously. "Do I have it?"

"Yes," Nero replied tonelessly. He eyed the editorials forming in his mind, dismissed them, and let them sink back into the murky chaos that lived there.

Darkdoom waited a moment, then said, "All right. Shall we call them in?"

Nero nodded and quickly sent a message to Raven via his Blackbox. "They'll arrive shortly."

The sea of students parted before Raven with immediate cooperation, offering a direct path to the six students she wished to speak with.

"You all," she said. At once the six she referred to looked over. Expressions of surprise and determination spattered across the students' faces, but one was of utter despair.

"You just had to come during lunchtime," Franz Argentblum moaned. "I will be starving!"

Raven stared at him, unimpressed. To be honest, it wouldn't hurt Franz to go without a few lunches, but few were brave enough to tell him so.

"Out of the line," Raven instructed firmly. "You're with me."

They finally managed to drag Franz to Plotting Room Two when they had provided him with what he called a "light snack," consisting of three grilled cheese sandwiches and two pre-packaged fruit cups.

Now, these six students in question were what might be best termed as "legends in the making." They received an education similar to their peers in some respects, attending all the same classes H.I.V.E. had to offer. Then again, their own unique abilities provided them with a chance to engage in "extracurricular activities" few others would ever sample.

Among these students was Laura Brand, the blossoming computer technician, and her roommate, Shelby Trinity, who could make observers question whether she was indeed of flesh and blood when it came to her stealth abilities. Devouring his snack was Franz Argentblum, the large but kind moneyman of the group. Beside him walked Nigel Darkdoom, a cautious boy with a passion for biology. Wing Fanchu and Otto Malpense walked ahead of them. The former of the two was deeply muscled and well-trained, in fact Raven's own pupil. Otto was almost Wing's opposite, with spiky white hair to contrast Wing's long, black ponytail, but his real differences were hidden in his mind. There lived an organic computer which allowed him to interface with other machines. You could say they were "different."

These were the six, Raven sighed to herself. Always these six.

"What do you think we're in for this time?" Shelby asked, elbowing Otto.

"No idea," Otto said, cautiously observing Raven.

"Do you think we're in trouble?" Nigel asked worriedly.

"Well I didn't do anything against the rules," Shelby said, defiance spicing her words. As an afterthought, she added, "Recently."

"I suspect we will find out soon," Wing commented. They paused as Raven opened the door to Plotting Room Two and did a quick head count as they filed in.

"Hello, Nigel," Darkdoom said warmly.

"Hi Dad," Nigel mumbled, a little shocked to find his father at H.I.V.E. again. The two were remarkably similar, with the same bald heads and identical blue eyes. Darkdoom, however, was tall and handsome, while Nigel still felt the runt of the litter so to speak, and had never heard anyone call him handsome before.

"All of you, sit down," Nero said, calling his students' meandering to order. "We have something urgent to discuss."

At once the students seated themselves around the table, but Raven remained standing near the wall as a determined observer. Nero nodded to Darkdoom.

"Very well," Darkdoom said. "Have any of you heard of the Museum before?"

The students shook their heads no.

"I'm not surprised," Darkdoom said. "The reign of organized evil has a far reach—and while you know this is a school to produce the next generation of villains, there has also been a Museum created documenting the exploits of those who came before us. Only recently did we become aware of its existence—"

"So it's not sanctioned by G.L.O.V.E., you mean?" Otto asked, frowning.

"Exactly," Nero said. "To summarize, it is a museum run by an unknown benefactor who is an obvious admirer of our work but has not, apparently, moved beyond "historian" in terms of his or her role."

"It took us a while to gain access," Darkdoom nodded. "But once we got a better idea of what's inside the museum we realized some of the displays contain, ah, sensitive material that could prove dangerous for G.L.O.V.E. should the exhibits be opened publicly. In fact, some of the goods in there are not artifacts but materials presumed scavenged from previous sites."

"Okay," Shelby said, already guessing where the conversation was leading. "You want us to get into this museum, destroy the evidence, and get back out?"

"Not to put too fine a point on it, yes," Nero replied.

"Isn't this a big job for six H.I.V.E. students?" Nigel asked. "This seems like it would be better handled by G.L.O.V.E. operatives."

Darkdoom cleared his throat. "G.L.O.V.E. has other concerns at the moment," he said. "The idea is not exactly to dismantle it—only utilizing sabotage to secure G.L.O.V.E.'s safety. We would rather keep this quiet at the moment, and who better to recruit than children who will be so preoccupied with their schoolwork over the next few years it will be impossible for them to spread the information?"

"It is your choice, Nigel," Nero added. "This is a time when we are making a request, not forcing you to do anything."

Otto looked around the table.

"I think I speak for all of us, Doctor," he said, looking Nero straight in the eye. "Now that you've told us it'll be hard to keep us from going."

Nero nodded. "Very well. Raven, please equip the students and escort them to the dock. We leave in thirty minutes."

The students rose, filing out after Raven, leaving Nero and Darkdoom alone again.

"That wasn't so bad," Darkdoom said.

Nero massaged his temples. "Trust me, it's about to get worse."

"Wheels up in ten minutes," Raven called behind her. "I want all of you onboard the Shroud now. Wing, Laura, you go over the equipment checklist. The rest of you—buckle up!"

The six students dashed up the ramp, Wing and Laura picking up their clipboards and beginning to go over the crates stacked in the back of the Shroud. The others sat. Franz buckled up, and looked hopefully to Laura.

"I am hoping there might be in-flight snacks on your list, ja?" he asked Laura, his face utterly hopeful.

"I wouldn't count on it," Laura replied grimly. Franz groaned.

"I am sure I will be starving to death here," he said to himself. "Eventually."

"Well, look on the bright side," Shelby said.

"What is being the bright side?" Franz asked suspiciously.

"The rest of us will have in-flight entertainment."

Franz moaned.

"Stop your sniveling," Raven said. A flight technician helped her pull a crate of food onboard. "You aren't going to starve."

Franz's eyes lit up like fireworks.

"Woah there," Otto said. "You're going to break your seatbelt."

Raven began handing out lunches, making sure Franz received his meal first. Within a few minutes, Darkdoom and Nero were onboard.

"Problems?" Nero asked, spotting the expression on Raven's face.

"Yours," Raven said, thrusting the responsibility of babysitting into his hands. She darted up into the pilot's seat, and started up the Shroud.

They were off.


	3. Chapter 2: Ingress

"Come, Butler, we don't want to be late," Artemis said, sliding into the back of their rental car. "It wasn't easy convincing them to give us a tour, and we wouldn't want to miss our chance."

"One moment, Artemis," Butler said. "Juliet will be out in a moment."

"Juliet?" Artemis asked, surprise widening his eyes. "I hadn't planned—"

"I know you hadn't," Butler said. "But if this museum is half of what you said it was, your life could be in serious danger, and I don't want to take any chances."

"Very well," Artemis sighed. He knew there would be no arguing with the man on this matter—Artemis Fowl's life was Butler's highest priority, and Artemis knew it was because of Butler's rigid routines he was still alive.

Juliet came along as promised, sliding into the passenger seat beside Butler.

"This'll be fun," she smiled. Butler didn't reply, instead turning the key in the ignition and putting the car in reverse. This was no time for humor, and in fact, it rarely was.

In the back seat, Artemis sighed. It was to be a long drive from the hotel. All he could do was wait.

The Shroud landed with no more than a whisper on top of the Parisian safe house, allowing its passengers to disembark before silently disappearing into the sky once more.

"Come," Darkdoom said. "We don't know who is watching."

They ushered the students towards the door, but Nero paused, looking over the darkening skyline for a moment. An intuitive feeling came over him, giving him the feeling something was hiding behind the twilight, taunting him, waiting for him to turn his back and spring.

"Coming, Max?" Raven looked back.

"Yes," he replied, joining her at the door. She shot him an inquisitive look, but Nero remained impassive. He felt sure he was not imagining things, but until he had evidence he could hardly convince anyone of this. He followed the others to the table.

"I propose three teams," Raven said. "We'll cover more ground that way and we—" She gave meaningful looks to Nero and Darkdoom. "—will be able to keep an eye on things."

"I agree," Nero said. Darkdoom nodded his assent.

"We only have a rudimentary map," Darkdoom sighed, pulling a copy from his pocket and spreading it out for all to see. "But I think the divisions are pretty clear."

The map showed the entry hall facing the main attraction, the rest of the exhibits forming a U-shape around the back of the building. On the left side of the building a staircase led to the upstairs level, which was apparently its own separate exhibit.

"Here," Raven said, sliding her finger over the main entrance and exhibit. "I will take this—there will be more guards and alarms."

Nero nodded. "I'll take the surrounding exhibits," he said.

"Which leaves me to do the upstairs," Darkdoom finished. He looked closely at the drawing. "Although it looks like it will probably be protected by some extra security systems."

"Digital or analog?" Laura asked, glancing over at Shelby.

"Probably computerized, is my guess," Otto said, peering in.

"All yours, Brand," Shelby grinned.

"I would like to go with Raven," Wing said. No one objected—in fact, no one would have had it otherwise, least of all Raven.

"There will probably be plenty of various security systems here," Nero said, pointing to his chosen section. "Malpense, Trinity, are you up to it?"

"Definitely," Otto replied firmly.

Darkdoom glanced over at his son. "I'll take Nigel," he said, making sure to hide the urgency from his voice. Raven's eyes flashed toward him exasperatedly as she received the alternative.

"Do not be worrying," Franz said happily. "I have been saving the school on many occasions. It will be the piece of pie."

"Cake," Nigel corrected.

"Cake!" Franz exclaimed. "Where?" Nigel merely sighed and rolled his eyes.

It was dark in the underground cavern where the allies had chosen to meet. Their silhouettes were those of a dainty pixie and an aging man, their union clearly only for malicious intent.

"I do hope your client keeps his appointments," the man said. "It has taken months to prepare the museum."

"It is not my client but your band of Mud Men we will have to worry about," the fairy sneered. "Fowl is no ordinary boy."

The man was silent, knowing it would be useless to convince his contact of the truth: his enemies were not ordinary either. They were, in fact, extraordinary, and he wondered if the fairy's prejudice perhaps prevented her from seeing this. He very much doubted Nero and his daycare would be wiped out by this affair, but the technology he was being offered to dispose of the Fowl boy would give him an edge the next time he and Nero clashed swords.

"What do you intend to do with the bodies after they have destroyed one another?" the fairy asked.

"My dear, we are executives," the man said smoothly. "We need not concern ourselves with what happens to the garbage after we have thrown it out."

The fairy giggled. "I like you."

The man made no answer. "We will inform you of any developments," he said, then left. Neither of them knew it in the darkness, but determined, malicious smiles crossed their faces as they parted ways. Their enemies would destroy each other, and their victory would be fantastic.

"We've arrived," Butler said, pulling into a parking space in front of the museum. The sign out front read "SOUVENIRS DE TIGRE," but a "closed" sign hung in the window.

In the back seat, Artemis's eyes flicked open.

"Very well," he said. "We begin. Are you there, Foaly?"

"Not legally," the centaur muttered in his ear. "I am not to intervene under the harshest of penalties, only to make sure you properly retrieve the article we are interested in."

"Yes, yes," Artemis sighed. "Come. They are waiting."

Artemis pulled open the first set of door, unlocked, and waited for Butler and Juliet to join him before approaching the buzzer on the wall.

"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too," he said clearly into the speaker.

"Access granted," the measured voice of a computer said. "Artemis Fowl and guests. Please proceed."

Artemis wandered in, nodding politely to the security guards at the front desks. It was by no means a palace, but he could appreciate the design for a facility requiring such closely guarded secrets. Silently, he walked to the main exhibit, where an extensive spread on a man named Pietor Furan was displayed. He had apparently once ran a school in Russia called "The Glasshouse" for some time.

"Have you heard of this man, Butler?" Artemis asked, looking up and down the life-sized cutout of the man.

Butler frowned. "Yes," he said. "There is a brother and a sister, and they are… formidable."

Artemis stared into Furan's blind, white eye.

"He certainly looks the part," he commented. "Although I would never have marked him out as a teacher."

"Trainer," Butler said. "The Glasshouse was not a school, but a facility designed to turn children into murderers. I have met one of his projects before. He does not teach them. He carves them into weapons, and I have never met more dangerous opponents."

Artemis nodded appreciatively. "I certainly hope we don't run into him any time soon."

Three teams landed softly on the roof of The Museum. Otto gently probed for any security devices that might be interested in jeopardizing their mission, and swiftly disabled any that looked at him in a funny way.

"Over here," he whispered, leading to the metal door at the end of the cement slab on which they stood. In single file they stepped inside, until they reached a large landing featuring two large, glass doors.

"We get off here," Darkdoom said, stepping forward and peeking in to see what might lurk inside the upstairs wing. "See you in a bit."

Nero nodded and guided the students forward to the ground floor. Casually, he tipped Shelby and Otto in the right direction, and they slid into the U-shaped hallway. Raven, meanwhile, carefully crept forward, sensing Wing and Franz on her tail and being careful to stay out of sight. She glanced to her side, noticing the main attraction. In big, blocky letters a name demanded her attention: "Pietor Furan."

Raven smiled to herself. His destruction would be her pleasure.

"I've seen enough," Artemis said. "Come Juliet, let's go look at the, ah, _other_ exhibits."

"Okay." Juliet followed Artemis, and Butler took the caboose. The hairs on the back of the bodyguard's neck tingled, as if he could feel the eyes on his back. He glanced over his shoulder, just to make sure, but there was no one there. Even he, with all his years of experience, could not see the woman clothed in shadows staring straight at him.

"Let's go," he agreed. Something was wrong with this place. He couldn't describe what it was, but after a lifetime of training he wasn't about to ignore a hunch. "Let's grab the crown and get out of here."

"Act casual, Butler," Artemis instructed. "We can't have them suspecting something."

Butler did not reply, instead fingering his Sig Sauer and keeping a watchful eye. Something was not right. He could feel it.

"We'd better take care of those guards," Nero remarked quietly. Otto and Shelby exchanged glances.

"I thought you left that kind of thing up to Raven," Otto said.

"Oh, please," Nero sighed. "I think I'm allowed to have a little fun every once and a while."

From his immaculate suit (he had flat out refused to wear anything else) Nero pulled a small, silver cylinder. The students' eyes widened.

"I thought you said this was supposed to be non-lethal," Shelby frowned.

"It won't kill them," Nero assured her, a smug smile crossing his face. "But it will certainly cause mayhem…"

He pulled the pin and rolled the cylinder towards the main desk, where they guards eyed it suspiciously. They never would remember exactly what it did, as at once orange vapor burst from it and caused them all to slump into their chairs. Soon enough the vapor diffused across the room, and every guard in sight was snoring.

Otto and Shelby looked around, wondering if they were going to drop off as well.

"You can stop gaping," Nero said, turning towards the exhibits. "You've already been inoculated. Standard H.I.V.E. policy."

"But I thought this was new," Shelby said.

"No," Nero said. "It's a handy little gas, it causes victims to fall asleep at once and plagues them with nightmares for about an hour. Then they wake up. It's less reliable than sleepers, loud noises will wake them, but if we're quiet enough we won't have any problems. Enough chatter—do you both have your explosives?"

Shelby and Otto nodded, patting the tiny devices they had been given.

"Use them sparingly," Nero warned. "And let me know of any complications."

Shelby and Otto nodded, and crept down the halls, Otto being careful to disarm the electronic alarms within range.

Otto crept into the first exhibit, which displayed an extremely thorough description of typical tactical equipment. Normally Otto liked museums, but this only seemed troublesome. He didn't know what was going on or who was behind this, but something was certainly odd about this entire situation. No one in their right mind would reveal private tactical secrets to the public… unless they would not fall with G.L.O.V.E.

"Thank you, Ms. Brand," Darkdoom said. The last of their roadblocks dissolved and allowed them entrance into the upstairs wing. Darkdoom crept in, sleeper in his hands, and waved for the students to follow. They went forward, but abruptly stopped. For a moment the three stared, finding themselves in the very mess of a half-finished publication of Diabolus Darkdoom himself.

"Wow…" Nigel looked around. "This is… weird."

Darkdoom narrowed his eyes. "I would call it disturbing. Come on, let's finish this."

At once, the three dispersed, tearing down posters of Darkdoom's infamous exploits and tidbits about his life. Darkdoom took special pleasure in defacing the poster that gave an account regarding the dissipation of his marriage.

"Hey, give me a hand," Laura called, struggling with a mechanical model of an old toy of Darkdoom's: a car that could be driven on land, under water, or hover for a few minutes. Nigel helped tear it open, neither of the teens noticing when the sparks began to fly.


	4. Chapter 3: Introductions

Raven spent a little longer than necessary hacking away at Pietor Furan's life-sized image, but she eventually passed off one of her swords to Wing.

"What should I be doing?" Franz asked watching his two companions gracefully render the exhibit to shreds. He had noticed the guards nod off, and he was more than eager to do anything to leave the vicinity as soon as possible.

"Take a seat," Raven said, tapping on a display. Franz hesitantly did so, only to find himself crashing to the ground as the display gave way beneath his weight.

Raven glanced down. "Again," she ordered. Wing offered him a hand, tensing as he helped support Franz's weight. Franz sighed, knowing Raven was not one to argue with, and hurried to find something else to sit on.

It wouldn't be long and the entire exhibit would be reduced to shambles.

Shelby left behind her first completed work and moved on to the "Villains of Olde" room. She inwardly groaned at the mess her fingernails were now in as she peeled the adhesive covers on the backs of her explosives. But, as per usual, all the nail polish was left at H.I.V.E. and she would have to correct the problem when she got home. Until then she would simply have to stick the devices around the room.

That's when she saw it. The crown.

Even from a distance, it was beautiful. In all her "business trips," Shelby had seen magnificently crafted jewelry, but this was surreal. Shelby crept towards it, utterly taken with the way the gold had been woven together in some areas and spread like butter in others. And the jewels! They almost seemed to have a glow of their own.

She read the description:

"_The diadem of Queen Wren II worn during the conquest of Veronica the Vile. Donated by Opal Koboi."_

Shelby glanced back at the door.

"Now Shelby," she murmured to herself. "You couldn't possibly let an ancient relic like this go to waste… Besides, no one will ever know…"

She went for her shoe. Wielding the expert tools she kept there, she had the glass case open in seconds, admiring her handiwork before storing it in her bag.

"The diadem should be in here," a boy's voice said from outside. Shelby immediately slunk to the shadows, watching in shock as three people—a mountainous man, glamour girl, and vampire child—entered.

Shelby turned to slip out of the room and finish disposing of her explosives.

"Is something burning?" Laura asked, glancing over at Nigel. The darkness of the room hid the expression on his face, but his silhouette froze, stopping to consider the question. Darkdoom turned back towards the entry room. A growing fire chiseled its way through the garbage they had scattered everywhere, soon enough it would threaten their route to the exit.

"Just a few more minutes," Darkdoom said, running to the other billboards and taking the small explosives there.

In the other room, there was an enormous crash as a piece of plywood as long as the room crashed to the floor.

"That's our cue," Nigel said nervously. Darkdoom nodded, and ushered the students through the flames.

"Let's get the others," he said. "I get the very distinct feeling we will not want to be here in about an hour."

Artemis stared. His eyes narrowed and a scowl wormed its way across his face, so his shock melded into annoyance. There was the pedestal, as promised, but where the diadem should have been, there was only thin air.

"We're not alone," Artemis hissed. "Foaly!"

"What?" the flippant voice asked. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"The diadem is gone!" Artemis snapped. "What happened?"

Foaly's keyboard clacked for a few seconds.

"It looks like all the guards are unconscious," he said. "Did you do that?"

"No," Butler said. This was not good.

"There are at least six others in the building."

"We're leaving," Butler said at once, grabbing Artemis's shoulder. "Come, Juliet!"

Butler turned to leave the room, startled to come face to face with a blond girl, maybe a little older than Artemis. She stared for a nanosecond at the gargantuan man, then turned and ran. Butler narrowed his eyes, and followed.

"We've got company!" Shelby yelled.

Raven immediately took her other sword from Wing. "Get Nero and Otto," she directed. "Wing, stay close." Wing assumed a fighting stance.

Shelby started running again, and crashed straight into Otto and Nero themselves. They all groaned, picking themselves off the floor, but Nero could not be distracted for long.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"There are three others," Shelby panted. "Strangers. I accidentally ran into them on my way out."

"Did you finish with your stickers?" Otto asked. Shelby nodded.

"Good," Nero said, herding his students closer towards their exit.

Artemis, Juliet, and Butler ran out, Butler already drawing his Sig Sauer. He tactically observed his six opponents all at once—immediately spotting the overweight kid in the back to be the weak link in their group.

"Hey!" A face Butler had hoped he would never see again forced itself to the front of his mind. "_I'm_ the one you need to worry about!"

There was a second's hesitation between them both. At that same instant a bald man shoved a redhead and similar looking boy down the stairs.

"Time to go!" he shouted. The wild look in his eyes was enough to move Butler to unceremoniously grab Artemis and drag him out the door. Only Juliet looked back, long enough to see the glimmer of gold stashed in a certain blond female's bag. She was lagging behind, checking it, just as Juliet was.

She looked up, their eyes met for a moment.

"Juliet!" Butler roared.

"Shelby!" another voice yelled from up the stairs. They glared at one another for a second longer before running for their lives.

Juliet threw herself into the car, and Butler floored the pedal immediately. Ten minutes later, they still felt the aftershock from the explosion. Artemis looked out the back window—The Museum was gone.

He started brooding there in the back seat, frustrated to have come so close and yet having been beaten by these mysterious adversaries.

"That was too close," Butler grumbled.

"Well, we're not out of this just yet," Juliet said fiercely. "They have the crown, and we're going to get it back.

"Who were they?" Wing asked, uttering the first words any of them had spoken since fleeing the museum.

"I only know one of them, and that's enough to make me wary," Raven said. "The big man. His name is Butler. He can be dangerous, if you threaten him in the right ways."

"You mean you know this man?" Darkdoom asked.

"We ran into one another a long time ago," Raven said. "It was a brief meeting, but I looked him up afterwards just in case I ever met him again."

"I want to know everything about this man, and the people he was with," Nero said. "Raven?"

"I'm on it," she replied, booting up the computers.

"Well, that solves that," Shelby said. "Who was that chick with him?"

"Give me a break, Trinity, I haven't even opened a window yet," Raven snapped.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of answers and even more questions later," Nero assured them. "In the meantime I suggest you all get some rest. We should leave in a few hours, but I want you all alert."

The students nodded, pulling out the cots and spreading out on them. There was the usual banter, joking and laughter that the students were so used to, mock pillow fighting and then stopping to laugh at Franz who was having trouble fitting onto his cot.

"I am missing my own bed," Franz groaned, finally finding an almost comfortable position.

"I think we all are," Otto said, doing his very best to not give Wing a furtive glance.

Shelby, however, said nothing, and didn't mind her peers' chatter, because then they would not hear her noise. She carefully rearranged the items in her bag, making sure the crown was carefully wrapped up in her jacket and moved towards the bottom so it would stay out of sight. She didn't need the world to know she had lifted it, and hoped their ignorance would last a long while longer.

"This has been some day," Otto groaned, tossing on his cot and falling onto the floor. "Ow."

"We never have normal days," Laura laughed. A few cots over, Wing began to snore gently.

"Remind me to do something about that when we get back to H.I.V.E.," Otto said, stuffing his pillow over his head.

"You do this every night?" Nigel grimaced.

"Yeah," Otto sighed, catching the glinting eye of Diabolus Darkdoom. "Now pipe down, or Raven will make us."

It was very quiet after that.


	5. Chapter 4: Regrouping

"Absolutely not," Butler rumbled, his arms folding and his expression unwavering. "It is too dangerous. Foaly will just have to get the crown himself."

They were back in the hotel room, Juliet nervously flicking through all the channels on the TV while Artemis and Butler had a mild disagreement. It was rare occurrence, as far as their day-to-day activities went. Artemis was the brains and Butler obeyed. But not today. Butler would not risk his principal's safety.

Artemis's face was calm and smooth, but he was obviously agitated, pacing the way he did across the hotel room floor. He was determined to win this fight, and the longer they argued the deeper his resolve was rooted.

"It's not about the diadem, Butler," Artemis said. "They beat us; they were there before we were and won the game before we had an inkling they were there. That is unacceptable. We must get it from them."

"Yeah," Juliet said, not looking away from the TV. "And whoever that blond chick things she is I am going to—"

"No, you won't," Butler interjected. "We are going home, and we will leave this to the fairies. This is not our business."

Artemis studied his faithful bodyguard's face.

"What is it?" he asked. Butler never looked afraid in the normal sense of the word, but the distant expression on his face was enough to give Artemis pause.

"You don't know what you're dealing with, Artemis," Butler said. "Have you ever heard of the Raven?"

Artemis thought of mentioning Edgar Allen Poe, but quickly brushed the thought from his mind. Too many jokes and no one would take him seriously anymore. Instead he shook his head. No.

"We're lucky she was distracted," Butler said. "Or we might not have survived our encounter with her. She was the woman with the swords, scar on her face." He didn't mention her eyes. Not those piercing blue eyes. They were enough to send shivers down the weathered man's spine.

"Please, Butler," Artemis said. "She's only one woman."

"If you're talking about the lady with the wicked swords, I could have taken her," Juliet scoffed.

"Foaly," Artemis said. "Look up the operative codenamed Raven, I want to know everything about her."

Foaly clucked his tongue as he tapped his keyboard.

"That's odd," he said. "There's nothing."

"Nothing?" Artemis said sharply.

"Nothing," Foaly said. "This is… distressing. If she exists, she must have _something_."

"She exists," Artemis confirmed. "If only all the security footage weren't exploded…"

"She is one of Furan's students," Butler said. "She is very dangerous and obviously very secretive. We cannot go forward."

"Here's something," Foaly said. "A couple of emails, that's all. Something called H.I.V.E.? The Higher Institute of Villainous Education… No, seriously. You mud men are not nearly advanced enough for this to be conceivable, much less possible."

Artemis set his jaw.

"Keep digging, Foaly. This means war."

"News, Sebastian?" Opal Koboi asked, filing her nails blissfully.

"The girl has taken the bait," Sebastian Trent replied, hands folded peacefully in front of him. Opal smiled at the hovering camera in front of her, knowing it burned her ally to be waiting around. He desperately thirsted for her technology, and she still withheld it from him.

"I will be sending them trouble, soon," Trent said. "We are proceeding as planned."

"Good," Opal nodded. "Did the information I planted for your mud men work well?"

"Yes," Trent replied. "They have no idea we are behind this, and already the Fowl boy has started searching for it."

"And they have Foaly on the case? Ha!" Opal laughed. "Keep me updated, Sebastian, I do so look forward to watching them die. Koboi out."

The expression on Raven's face was frightening enough to wake the dead; the students were alert in an instant.

"What's wrong?" Laura asked.

"The safe house has been compromised. H.O.P.E. is calling."

It was enough for everyone to groan. The Hostile Operatives Prosecution Executive had proven a headache for everyone in recent months, particularly for Doctor Nero. He had spent some time under their hospitality in the alps, until Raven and his students had been able to rescue him.

The sound of gunfire broke through their groggy minds, and they ducked in time to avoid the shattered glass flying from the windows.

"Come on!" Raven yelled. "Out! Out!"

The students headed down the stairs and onto the streets, startling plenty of passerby as six teens in identical jumpsuits, two particularly well-dressed gentlemen, and one ferocious ninja-assassin ran for their lives.

Behind them, the buzzing of machinery roared. Two black drones, humming with the anger of a thousand hornets, seemed intent in their prey: them. Raven hung back a moment, throwing one of the explosives she always carried on her person. The bomb exploded, and although neither drone was hit, they both exploded.

Raven frowned. That wasn't a good sign. She turned and followed, but wasn't quite able to shove the nagging thought from her mind. The circumstances required her immediate attention, however, as cars screeched and people screamed in alarm as the debris fell from the sky. Some bystanders tried to stop Raven as she tried to catch up. Their mistake. A few broken wrists later, Raven was keeping pace with the gang.

"Where do we go?" Nigel yelled.

"Away from here!" Shelby replied, hanging an abrupt left as they dodged oncoming traffic.

"Head north!" Darkdoom shouted. "I know somewhere not too far away where we can wait for retrieval!"

"We might need it a lot sooner than that," gasped Otto, halting in his tracks as a line of civilians walked straight towards them. They were normally dressed, maybe, but their uniform steps were unmistakable.

"These are our adversaries?" Wing frowned. The stalking line consisted of a couple businessmen, a woman with an empty stroller, a grandmotherly looking lady, and two grocers—produce in hand. "They do not look like H.O.P.E. operatives."

The granny raised an automatic rifle. Without hesitation, they ran straight into oncoming traffic.

"It's this school for delinquent children, as near as I can tell," Foaly said. "They've got some nasty criminals coming out of there, I'll bet."

"No matter," Artemis said. "This Raven is only one woman, and the rest, assuming they are only criminals, can't compete with my intellect. Our assets include the Butlers, myself, and you, Foaly."

"Don't forget me," Holly Short flickered in the window, risking visibility for a second.

"Come in, Holly," Artemis invited. "It would hardly be an adventure without you."

The fairy entered, pulling off her helmet.

"Sounds like we have the team together," Holly said. "Now all we need is the target."

"Can we track the crown?" Juliet asked.

"It will take a few minutes, but we should be able to trace the magical signature of an object that powerful," Foaly replied.

"Very well," Artemis said. "Now, we simply need to learn a little about our adversaries."

"The blond one took the crown," Juliet said firmly. "Ponytail. There was also some white-haired kid next to her."

"There were two adults aside from the assassin," Butler said grudgingly. "Adult men, suited. One was bald."

Artemis nodded in agreement.

"Looks like there were a few other kids as well," Foaly commented. "You mud men all look the same. Uh… Redhead. Bald kid. Fat kid. Another ponytail kid."

"I'm confused," Butler frowned. "Why bring so many children?"

"Well, if it is a school they will start young," Artemis said. "After all, Butler, you were sent to train when you were ten."

"That's different."

"Well, their youth is a disadvantage," Holly said. "They're inexperienced. Although I'm not sure they're training just thugs. The fat kid wouldn't fit the profile."

"Hey, sumo wrestlers have to bulk up for their fights," Juliet argued.

"I highly doubt they would have a sumo program at a school for delinquent children," Butler said. "Now, we were developing a plan?"

"Hold on a sec," Foaly said. "The diadem is on the move."

Rubber screeched as the cars braked to avoid hitting them. Breathing heavily, the students and their mentors paused on the relative safety of the sidewalk opposite them. The zombie-like pedestrians began to follow.

"As I said," Darkdoom shouted. "North!"

They ran. it was a good twenty minutes before they stopped, and by the time Darkdoom had ushered them into his own private safe house, every face was pink and sweaty.

"I am not wanting to be doing that again," Franz wheezed.

"That's strange, though," Otto said, pouring a bottle of water onto his head. "Those people looked nothing like trained operatives. The woman wasn't even holding her gun right."

"They weren't," Raven said. "They had no training whatsoever."

"You're saying we just ran all this way from helpless civilians?" Nigel asked, wiping the sweat off his head.

"_Armed_ civilians," Laura reminded him. For a moment no one spoke.

"Everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it," Shelby said. "They were acting like the Contessa had gotten a hold of them."

"But the Contessa is dead," Wing said. He looked to Nero, as if probing his face for the truth. "Is she not?"

"Yes," Nero replied. "The Contessa's power died with her. This must be something else."

"Then what?" Otto asked.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out," Nero said. "Everyone… Rest. See what assets we have. We may be on the move soon."

Darkdoom nodded, and led the students to the reserves. While they were all distracted, Raven approached Nero.

"The Contessa may be dead, but her power is still very much alive," Raven said bluntly. "Do you think she is a threat?"

"I am inclined to think not," Nero said. "If we were sure we are secure, I would dispatch someone to check on the girl, but until further notice that seems unwise. I'll be sure to visit with her when we get back."

Raven frowned. "I still think this girl is a threat."

"Potentially," Nero agreed. "But she may prove an incredible asset, with proper training."

"She's dangerous."

"Did you know, Raven, I had this conversation before?"

"Oh?" Raven raised her eyebrows. "And how did it end?"

"You're here, aren't you?" Nero's eyes twinkled, and he gave her a half smile. Raven scowled, and followed Nero to help pack. It would be nice to be right, for once. Just once.

"Something bothering you, Wing?" Raven asked, joining her student. Wing looked up from his pondering.

"Just a misplaced feeling," he said. "I sense there is more to this problem than meets the eye."

"You've got that right," Raven nodded. She spoke a little louder, for all to hear. "I looked up those people we ran into at the museum."

Everyone perked up a little.

"Apparently we have just encountered the offspring of the recently recovered Artemis Fowl the first. Arty Junior, as it were. He was accompanied by his bodyguard, a man only known as Butler, and Butler's sister, Juliet."

"Fowl," Darkdoom chuckled. "Son of a gun."

"Who is he?" Nigel asked.

"To be honest, Fowl was always a little… eccentric," Nero said. "A genius when it came to making money, but he always veered away from G.L.O.V.E. as far as underworld interactions go. He almost joined us, and the he married that… That…"

"Environmentalist?" Darkdoom offered.

"I was going to use a different word, but yes, environmentalist," Nero continued. "He fell out after that. He was never a real threat to G.L.O.V.E., and I believe he had negotiated with Number One to allow for occasional consulting jobs, and then spent the rest of his time as he pleased. Eventually, of course, he got in way over his head, and without any allies was taken captive in Russia. He was only just retrieved, and apparently has chosen to pursue a different career path from here on out."

"His son has been carrying on the family business," Raven said. "I can remember we had thought about recruiting him, but those plans fell through."

"I'm afraid Mrs. Fowl did not take kindly to the idea of losing her son, and her, ah, interview with the Contessa did not end well," Nero said. "But I heard her mental health was miraculously restored and is much better now."

"Anyway," Raven said. "Fowl the second has been up to a few of his own adventures. He apparently rescued his father and somehow managed to acquire a ridiculous sum of gold—and no one knows how."

"Why was he at the museum?" Laura asked.

"That I can't say," Raven said. "But if Fowl and H.O.P.E. have teamed up, you can be sure we're in for a lot more trouble."

"And the Butlers?" Darkdoom prodded.

"The Butler family is entrusted with protecting the Fowl family," Raven said. "Been that way as long as anybody can remember. Butler will do anything for his charge. His sister, however, appears to be more rambunctious."

"Is she the blond one?" Shelby asked, frowning.

Raven nodded. "She's reported to be very, ah, enthusiastic about what she does. Wrestling, especially."

"Very well," Nero said. "If that's the best we have, then we'll have to work with it. Raven, do you have any last suggestions on equipment we should bring?"

"Firearms," Raven said. "I'm not taking any chances with Butler."

A dark look crossed Wing's face as he was handed a gun.

"Let's hope you don't have to use it," Raven said. "Nero, what's the plan?"

"I'll call for a pickup location," Nero said. "Then we're gone."


	6. Chapter 5: Approach

Artemis Fowl listened carefully to the phone conversation between Doctor Nero and a Colonel Francisco.

"ETA is six hours," the Colonel said. "Maybe less, if we push it."

"Very well," Nero said. "We'll give you our location when you're fifteen minutes out."

The line went dead.

"They plan to go to another safe house," Artemis said, lightly pressing his fingertips together. "They rather tend to rely on that tactic, don't they?" He tapped his earpiece. "Foaly, can you find the safe house?"

"Give me a few seconds," Foaly said, the sounds of a keyboard being pounded returning.

"I still think this is unwise," Butler said. In fact, he knew it to be unwise.

"Sorry, Butler," Artemis put a hand on his shoulder. "This is something… I must do."

"Besides," Juliet said. "If we don't go then that blond little rat will never get the butt-kicking she deserves."

There was something about that girl Juliet couldn't stand. The confidence of limb, the arrogance of existing, something along those lines. Juliet would be more than happy to take her down a few notches, and remind her of her deepest fears.

Holly offered Butler a half-smile. "Come on, soldier," she said. "You've got me, and I'm sure you'll be able to handle it."

Butler sighed, knowing very well that he wouldn't.

"Have you gotten everything you need?" he asked. Artemis nodded, and so Butler loaded the bags into the car, followed by his sister, fairy, and principal. He took the wheel, and pulled out onto the street.

With Artemis acting as a guide, Butler navigated the moderately busy streets until he reached a row of warehouses. Butler put the car in park and took the keys from the ignition.

"Thank you, Butler," Artemis said. "But I'm afraid you can't park the car here. They'll notice."

"You go on ahead, I'll hide it," Butler said, his tongue feeling thick and heavy. What on earth was he doing? Any bum knew not to park in plain view of the enemy, and now Artemis was venturing into some secret lair without Butler to protect him!

Butler groaned.

For a moment he couldn't understand what was happening. Then he realized. He was afraid. His fear paralyzed his training, as it never had before, and the key to it all was their adversary.

Raven. The nightmarish bird that killed with a violent grace. No one dared cross her lightly. But Artemis did. He didn't know how many people she had killed or who she had killed them for, rumor had twisted that truth beyond recognition. He only knew that to defy her was death, because it was a simple fact about Raven: she never lost. Furan had beaten the skill into her, but she was not like some dumb hand meant to throw around his weight and guard hostages. Something, or maybe even someone, had given her a purpose beyond slavery. It was that purpose which made Butler's blood run cold.

Somehow Artemis dismissed the stories as the stuff of legend and carried on with his own plan. Artemis's failure was Butler's failure, and that was bad enough to think about, much less to face. Yet he would have to face it. Now.

Butler locked the car and left it hidden, quickly covering his tracks before joining the others inside.

"Look at this arsenal," Juliet was saying. "It's so small. It's kind of cute, when you think about it."

"But again, small," Artemis said. "Now, Butler , there you are. I would like you up on that landing there, if you don't mind. Holly will turn on her shield and Juliet can position herself near the weapons dock."

They moved as Artemis directed them, Artemis himself taking a seat in the large, black swivel chair at the head of the room.

"And now we wait," he said smugly to himself.

"They're about to intersect," Trent said formally. "My dear, would you like to watch their last glorious encounter before they die?"

"Record it for me," Opal said. "I'm afraid I'm a little busy at the moment."

She smiled admiringly at her own developing face. She was making her own clone—a fantastic replica to fool that idiot Argon. Still, she thought, nothing could ever quite compare with the glory of the original copy.

"Doing what?" Trent asked. His eyes squinted and his mouth curved into an unhappy grimace.

"None of your business, I'm afraid," Opal said, fingering a box of chocolate truffles greedily. "Why? Are you spying on me?"

"I wouldn't dream of it, my dear," Trent replied. "I have far too many things to do without you."

"Very well," Opal said loftily. "Goodbye, dear Sebastian!"

She buzzed out. Only Trent remained.

He glanced at his other monitor, secured as much as a computer could possibly be in this day and age, automatically shielding a horrified fascination from his face. The emotion, however, was strong.

On screen, the naked body of a woman was sprawled out on a metal slab. More precisely, part of one. Surrounding her were many doctors in white lab coats, their gloved hands gently handling the woman's flesh despite the fact that they were freezing—their breaths were visible clouds in the air. Over the last few weeks they had cut away the deadened flesh from the spirit still holding onto passionate hatred. Today they began to fuse what was left of her with a new metal frame, so that soon she might return to her purpose.

Trent could only watch. Among the customary drabness of his office, it was the only thing he could truly keep his eyes on. There was no guarantee this would work. The end result could very well be failure. Then again, perhaps Verity remained, somewhere between life and death, clinging to the hope of resurrection and vengeance.

Or, if not the assassin herself, her ghost.


	7. Chapter 6: Engagement

The safe house required another long walk, but this time no one followed them, providing much-needed relief from their most recent misadventures.

"There it is," Nero said, going to the door of the warehouse and entering the necessary passcode. As a stringy spaghetti blob, they coiled inside.

Weary eyes might have missed the subtle signs of intrusion, but that was no excuse. Raven cursed herself as the door thudded shut and their scent fell upon her. She only briefly glanced at Nero before engaging with a mountain of a man, dodging his bullets and reaching for her katanas. Butler deprived her of this luxury, cutting the straps loose and hurling them towards Juliet, forcing Raven to use her body as her weapon. Darkdoom edged around the sidelines, ready to reach for the katanas or something from the arsenal and toss them to Raven, but Juliet stepped in his way.

"Up to something?" she sneered. Before Darkdoom had the time to react she threw him down and knocked him unconscious, a smug smile creeping across her face. There was a sharp yell from the opposite direction and the force of Wing Fanchu at full sprint slammed into her, completely ERASING the smirk. At once she whipped out her favorite wrestling moves, grabbing for his arms and legs. It took her 30 seconds to realize she was seriously outmatched.

"A little help, Holly?" she yelled.

From across the room, Otto sensed a device power up, hovering in the air and drawing close to Wing. He saw nothing, but his technological senses didn't lie.

_This thing is dangerous,_ he realized.

At once Otto called for the weapon—a foreign object, unlike anything had encountered as of yet—to hold. The pressure built up inside it, and before she could say "D'arvit!" Holly Short found herself uncloaked and bleeding hard, sprawled on the cement floor. She fought to remain conscious.

Tiny blue sparks began to jump from her insides, sealing split skin and returning bones to their sockets. Holly sighed as the pain dulled and reshielded. She didn't know what happened, but she was eager to find out.

"Foaly?" she whispered. "What happened?"

"An outside source somehow interfered with your Neutrino," Foaly said, sitting in complete awe. "Impossible!"

"Well, keep at it," Holly said, slowly flying forward. The boy with white hair and blue eyes searched the air where she hovered, and Foaly nickered uncomfortably.

"You're being probed," he murmured. Holly could just imagine the glazed eyes and hanging mouth of the centaur. It would have been surprising if a fairy were able to interfere with Foaly's wiring. Mud men were simply out of the question.

A sudden crash between Wing and Juliet as they rammed the arsenal made for an opportune diversion, and Otto ran to help, giving Holly the chance to fly down and catch Shelby off guard.

"Hello," Holly said, keeping her voice soft to avoid detection. "Look at me." The effect of the mesmer was immediate, and Shelby instantly looked into Holly's face. She wasn't so ugly, Holly decided. For a mud girl.

"I have an idea," Holly said. "Why don't you go stand by Artemis over there? It's probably safer."

"Maybe," Shelby looked doubtful. "I want to help my friends."

"I know," Holly agreed, her face puckering with sympathy. "I understand. But you will be able to help your friends by going and standing over by Artemis."

"I will?"

"You will," Holly promised. "You have the most important job of all."

Shelby contentedly waltzed across the room, sticking to the shadows as silently as one would expect for a former jewel thief.

"Are you Artemis?" she asked, stepping out of the shadows and making Artemis jump. "She said to stand by you."

"Ah," Artemis said. "Just right here is fine." Shelby stood, and they watched the fighting unfold.

Butler was beginning to get distracted, wanting to look after Juliet as she struggled against the tall Asian boy. Raven pressed her advantage, but Butler's large hands caught her. Raven struggled, and had to sink her teeth into the back of his hand before he relinquished even a little.

Both of them were reluctant to admit it, but they were growing tired. Death was something neither were interested in, but without her swords or a good night's sleep Raven was finding it harder to defend herself as usual. That, and it was Butler she was fighting. She did owe him, after all.

"That will be enough, all of you," Artemis said coolly.

Everyone gradually looked up, Holly and Juliet entangled with Nero and the H.I.V.E. students.

"If you must persist, Butler, take it outside," Artemis sighed. Raven and Butler obliged, each eager to take a short reprieve and calculate their strategy.

"And the rest of you will keep it level," Artemis turned to the others. "Or else I will shoot your friend." Shelby stood pleasantly, as if she were oblivious to the gun barrel pointing in between her shoulder blades.

"Very well," Nero said carefully, as always ready to do anything to preserve the well-being of his students. "Wing, Nigel, move Diabolus out of the way. This may get out of hand."

Nigel carefully set his father to the side, glaring daggers at Juliet Butler. She guarded beside Holly, fingering a pistol and smiling triumphantly at the dark anger in Wing's eyes.

"Very well, Artemis," Nero said, looking the boy straight in the eye. "What happens now?"

Artemis hesitated, and for a moment wondered whether this was in his control at all.

"Did you get soft since Cairo?" Raven smirked. The battle was still underway, still tiring, and still slow going. Butler lunged, drawing a knife simultaneously with his movements.

"No," he said indignantly. "You just got better."

"Perks of the job," Raven shrugged, pulling her own blade from her boot. "There's no end to the amount of practice I get."

"Like the crown?" Butler asked. He swung at Raven, who hit his hilt with her own and dodged another fist from the side. He kicked, rolling out, Raven managing to slice off the heel of his shoe with her blade.

"What crown?" she asked, narrowly missing the bodyguard's swing.

"At The Museum," he said. "You trashed the museum and took the crown."

Raven's knife whistled past his ear, and the hunter in Butler momentarily quavered.

"No," Raven replied. "We were to destroy The Museum due to the display of classified information without authorization."

"Then why did you take the diadem?"

"What diadem?" Raven asked impatiently.

"Okay, stop," Butler said. They paused, catching their breaths but keeping their hands at the ready. "We were only in The Museum because we needed a valuable crown—diadem—on display there. The surveillance showed us that one of your students took it, so we were tracking you down to retrieve it."

"We were only destroying The Museum, as I said," she said, narrowing her eyes. "We were told to leave nothing."

Butler frowned. "Perhaps there has been a mistake."

The assassin nodded. "Perhaps."

"Artemis?" Foaly said frantically. "What in Frond's name is going on?"

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked, looking to the H.I.V.E. students as though he were talking to himself.

"Someone is infiltrating my network," Foaly said unhappily, whinnying with concern. "They're trying to shut down the grid!"

"What?" Artemis demanded.

"My suit's on the blink," Holly agreed urgently. "It's going through information. All our information!"

"What's going on?" Artemis now directed his question at the H.I.V.E. students.

"Forgive my intrusion," Otto smiled menacingly. "But as it was once said, "Know your enemy." I know you now, Artemis Fowl."

They stared at one another for a moment.

"All we need is the diadem," Artemis said. "Hand it over."

"What diadem?" Nero asked.

"If that's the game you're going to play," Artemis taunted, and looked to Juliet, who cocked her gun.

"Juliet, put the gun down," Butler said, bursting into the room with Raven. Raven ran to get her katanas, now quick to point one at Artemis, and the other at her own students.

"We have a problem," Raven said. "We may have been tricked."

"Surprise, surprise," Laura grumbled, distaste spelled out on her face.

"Holly, release the girl," Butler said. Holly hesitated. "NOW." Holly obeyed, and Shelby returned to her senses, blinking and confused. She sped to join her team.

"Now," Raven said, her voice steely cold. "Someone arranged for us to meet, perhaps with the intent to destroy us both. We were sent to destroy The Museum, and those with Butler were to retrieve an article. We both might have been successful, had not the article they were searching for went missing."

Raven's cold, blue eyes sent shivers down the spines of her audience.

"We tried to retrieve the item, a diadem, without catching onto this," Butler continued. "Assuming you were our enemies."

"Tell me, Master Fowl," Raven said. "Have you been working with a man named Sebastian Trent?"

"No," Artemis replied, looking slightly bewildered. Raven nodded.

"I don't understand," Nero said. "What's going on?"

"Someone's trying to get us to kill each other," Raven replied. "According to Butler they were able to research us on the Internet but—"

"—that's not possible," Nero finished with her. He looked to Butler. "Who would want to kill you?"

"My family has many enemies," Artemis shrugged.

"Opal Koboi," Holly suggested.

Shelby perked up. "I know that name," she said. "That was the name of the donor."

"Donor?" Nero raised an eyebrow.

Shelby withered, stumbling over her words. "Well, um, the donor of a crown, uh, at the, like, museum," she stammered.

"Filthy little thief," Juliet muttered. At once Butler and Wing pushed the blond terrors to the floor as they threatened to go for each others' throats.

"Do you have the diadem?" Butler grunted. Shelby, slowly released by Wing, nodded. She carefully pulled it from her backpack. At once, Holly zoomed over, but Shelby held it out of her reach.

"Ah, ah, ah," Shelby chided. "Finders keepers. You haven't convinced me yet. And trust me, that whole hypno-thing did _not_ help your case."

Holly frowned, eyeing the diadem protectively.

"And where did you find this?" Nero asked, raising his eyebrows, but smiling as if amused.

"They left it lying around," Shelby said dismissively. "And you know me! I was telling the truth, though. Opal Koboi was written as the donor."

Artemis frowned.

"She reported that diadem missing ages ago," Foaly seethed.

"Wait a moment," Otto spoke up. "This _mesmer_—the ability to control humans—could they have force a group of people to stop what they were doing and pursue us?"

"It might be a little complicated," Holly admitted. "But yes. How did you know that?"

"I read your files," Otto said simply.

But those drones were definitely from H.O.P.E.," Raven said. "Would they have motivation to team up?"

"Opal Koboi is a weapons contractor," Butler filled in. "Among other things."

Raven and Nero exchanged glances.

"Well that explains it," he sighed.

"Okay, hold on," Laura said. "I don't mean to be rude, but what _are_ you?" She looked at Holly. "I don't understand what anybody's going on about right now."

"My name is Holly Short," Holly started to say, but she was cut off.

"Captain Short," Nero supplied. "Is an elf. She is a member of the Lower Elements Police, as well as a citizen of the group of fairies who live underground."

"Butler and I met a long time ago on a mission in Cairo," Raven also said. "We teamed up for a while. It was definitely before most of you were born."

"You failed to mention you were on the same team when you said you had met him," Shelby grumbled.

"I promise we'll explain everything later," Nero said. "But we may be in considerable danger right now."

Holly was gaping. Artemis stared. Nero gave them both a look and returned to business.

"We are obviously being provoked and turned against one another," he said. "If Opal Koboi and Sebastian Trent are working together then I imagine we would benefit by working together, too."

"We should be careful," Raven said. "For all we know they could be watching us right now."

Everyone fell silent.

"Butler, Juliet, Holly, may I speak with you for a moment?" Artemis said. They conjoined in the corner.

"I don't trust them," Juliet said immediately.

"Hold your tongue," Butler ordered. He nodded to Artemis.

"Butler, what is your tactical appraisal of the situation?" the teen asked.

"As far as Koboi goes, and if she's paired up with this Trent person, then the person we want most on our team is Raven," Butler said. "She's the best."

Artemis nodded.

"Do you think we can trust them?"

"No."

"Very well. We need leverage. Foaly?"

"I can threaten to leak their coordinates on the Internet," Foaly said.

"They obviously value privacy," he agreed.

"Be careful, Artemis," Butler said. "You've already underestimated them once today. It would be unfortunate were it to happen again."

Across the room, a similar conversation was taking place.

"Really, Shel?" Laura asked, throwing her hands up into the air with exasperation. "What would Ms. Leon say?"

"That's enough," Nero said. "Regardless of what has happened our possession of the diadem gives us something to trade—their allegiance for the crown."

"Butler is a good man," Raven said. "Having them—as long as we work together—can only be an asset."

Nero nodded. "See if you can wake Diabolus. I don't think he'll want to miss out on this."


	8. Chapter 7: Provisions

"We are willing to make a deal with you for your cooperation," Nero said. "If you help us, then in return we will reward you with the diadem."

Artemis nodded. "We are willing," Artemis said. "But if you do not uphold our bargain then Foaly will release the coordinates of H.I.V.E. on the Internet."

"Sounds fair," Otto murmured to nobody in particular.

"Very well," Nero said smoothly. "Now, I recommend Mr. Foaly prepares a few files for you to read, Mr. Malpense, and you can share the important information with the rest of us."

Otto nodded, and went to the computer at the side of the room, where Foaly brought up a number of files.

"Whoops," he said. "You need English, don't you?"

"No," Otto said, flicking through the pages. It took a matter of minutes for Otto to become fluent in Gnommish, as he had already spent his childhood comprehending Egyptian hieroglyphics. Even Foaly was impressed with his skill.

"You read awfully fast," he said suspiciously.

Otto shrugged. "One of the many perks of being me, I'm afraid."

He failed to mention much of his own personal history in that session. He was unready to tell his best friend the truth about his past—complete strangers were out of the question.

While Otto became an expert on fairy lore and Opal Koboi, being careful not to overstep the boundaries again, the adults studied their assets. If Raven and Nero were surprised to be working with a fairy, they showed no sign of it. Diabolus had been initially shocked, but as a supervillain, he was used to facing the strange and absorbing it into his plans.

For once in his life, Artemis Fowl found himself in a situation where he was being treated like a child. Perhaps not a child, but an equal to the other teenagers that surrounded him and thus a subordinate to the adults.

"So," he said casually to the red haired girl. "Your name is Laura, yes?"

"Indeed, sir," she replied, smiling.

"You go to a school for villains, then?"

She glanced over at her teachers, who were not paying attention. "The Higher Institute of Villainous Education," she said. "It's a little odd at first, but it comes to feel like home eventually."

"I'm not sure I could ever become accustomed to a jumpsuit," Artemis said apologetically. "However dashing I may look in black."

Laura giggled.

"They're not all black, you know." She explained, "H.I.V.E. teaches four main areas—ours are black because we're Alphas. We're being trained to be the leaders of tomorrow."

Artemis looked around, where Juliet was teaching Shelby a few wrestling moves. Since Juliet had lent Shelby a lovely shade of nail polish and Juliet had learned Shelby was the infamous jewel thief known as the wraith, they had become fast friends.

"I'll bet you are," Artemis said, half to himself.

"Laura!" Otto exclaimed. "You have to come see these diagrams for their Neutrinos! They're spectacular!"

"Oh, go on," Foaly, their author, said. He was already growing fond of the white-haired boy. Laura stood, coming over and immediately gasping, and immediately said something in techno-babble.

"I hope you speak Nerd, Artemis!" Shelby yelled. "They're never going to stop now."

Artemis smiled, coming over and easily engaging in their conversation. They all seemed to share a passion for technology, and the way Otto and Laura fluently understood what they were looking at and how it worked offered Artemis company he rarely got to enjoy.

He almost liked it.

Sebastian Trent took a deep breath, knowing very well this could go very well or very badly. Opal was temperamental—if he wasn't receiving such a valuable sum from their partnership he would have her executed. She was that dangerous.

"You wanted to see me, Sebastian?" Opal asked, coming in.

"Yes," Sebastian smiled. "Our audience awaits us."

Opal frowned. "They're so annoying," she grumbled.

"Indeed," Trent said. "But I would hate to disappoint them when they've been waiting to meet death for too long."

"So true," Opal sighed. "I can't wait to crush them."

For a fairy, Trent reflected, she was also rather violent.

"Will we be leaving soon?" Opal asked, straightening her outfit.

"Not yet, I'm afraid," Trent said. "My team is loading up as we speak, we should leave in perhaps half an hour.

"Good," Opal said, quite satisfied. Trent looked at her, standing, and went to the door. "Where are we going?"

Trent didn't turn around.

"Tell me, Ms. Koboi. What would it take to buy a wish?"

At long last Raven felt satisfied, and she called over the students.

"Put these on," she ordered, kicking at the bullet-proof vests, clips, and firearms piled up for them. Artemis stared uncertainly at the equipment he was expected to don, more accustomed to wearing the suit and letting Butler do the hard work.

"Need a hand?" Wing asked. He showed Artemis how to pull on the body armor, and made sure the grappler was set up correctly on his arm.

"Usually I'm the overseer," Artemis muttered quietly, almost embarrassed.

Wing raised his eyebrows by a fraction. "In our experience, the overseer performs better when he understand his workers."

Artemis nodded. It was the truth, although not a truth he lived by.

"So, how do we get them?" Juliet asked, straightening her helmet.

"I'm afraid we must wait for the fight to come to us," Nero said. "Both Trent and Koboi are shielded from us right now, according to Foaly."

"And when they come?" Shelby prompted.

"We make them wish they had never met," Butler replied, fingering his Sig Sauer. "Drive them back, then escape."

"No," Otto and Artemis said in unison.

"We're listening," Nero said. Artemis gestured for Otto to go first.

"It's not only that we need to escape," Otto said. "We need to destroy their alliance."

"Exactly," Artemis agreed. "They're doing this for personal benefit. I imagine your Trent would drool to acquire some fairy technology. Particularly the weaponry."

"And Ms. Koboi would like to have a little more free access in the human world without losing her magic," Otto added.

"How do you suggest we stop them, then?" Nero asked.

"Opal abhors people who do not value her beauty and, ah, infinite wisdom," Artemis said. "If we can get Trent to say something rude to her then she might flip."

"Trent wouldn't be caught off guard like so," Raven said. "He would know Koboi needs to be fondled."

"True, but he doesn't know her well," Artemis said.

"Koboi is a spoiled little girl," Otto thought aloud. "And eventually Trent won't be able to stand her any longer. Perhaps they just need to be forced to work together for a little too long."

Nero nodded. "Very well," he said. "But we will still need to hurry. If we don't choose our positions for battle now, they will."

Otto looked to the door, sensing the approach of foreign technology.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that," he said. "They're here."


	9. Chapter 8: Apex

Opal Koboi giggled to herself as she followed Trent into the safe house with his men. Usually she preferred watching showdowns from a safe distance, but today she would make an exception. She wouldn't miss this bloodbath for the world. The hired men burst in, Trent and Opal following calmly. The targets looked up, surprise touching their ugly faces, and their flimsy card table began to tremble.

"I'm afraid your little planning session will have to be cut short," Trent said. "We had to move our appointment with you up."

Opal clucked her tongue. "So uncooperative, you filthy mud people," she said, wagging a finger. "If you had simply died when you were supposed to this would have been so much easier."

As she finished her sentence, the zap of many sleepers sounded, and eight of the at least thirty men collapsed. Trent and Opal immediately looked up towards the shelving on the upper floor of the safe house, where Artemis Fowl and Nero's students hid. Not even a shadow twitched.

"They are many," Wing breathed. "It will be difficult for them to maneuver in a space this small."

On Franz's mark, they fired again. Raven pulled her katanas from their sheaths in one fluid motion; Wing jumped down from his loft and took out the men closest. Juliet was quick to follow, hurling men to the floor as though they were rag dolls. The soldiers thoughtlessly began to fire their own weapons, and bullets began to ricochet around the warehouse. The students took cover, poking up on occasion to let another sleeper blast fell another man.

"You'll never win," Sebastian said, seemingly ignorant of the chaos around him. It was only him, and Nero. "Opal has so kindly provided me with the best weapons in the market—hers."

Nero regarded him coldly. "I don't need to win, Sebastian. I need only to make sure you never do." And with the same cool ignorance of the battle, Nero disappeared into the shadows that cloaked the warehouse's edges. Butler peeked from the shadows, faithful Sig Sauer in hand, and fired twice.

"Nice shot," Darkdoom said, a hard, approving smile on his lips. Two men dropped to the floor, crimson blood pooling on the cement floor.

"Of course," Butler said. "I wouldn't be a very good bodyguard otherwise."

Nero watched Raven take on the men still standing—about 15—and silently agreed. The headmaster himself would be dead twenty times over were his guardian any less thorough.

A man, meanwhile, took careful aim towards Wing and Juliet. Just as quickly, Holly knocked both unconscious with her Neutrino, and were promptly ignored.

"Fight, you louts!" Opal shouted, though her high voice could not be heard over the din of sleepers and gunfire. Looking for a better vantage point, she pulled her own weapon from her hip, and set it to "well done." Otto sensed the foreign activity, looking out to find Opal within Raven's arena, and willed it to explode. A loud, bright flash blinded everyone momentarily, Opal and those standing close to her suffering the harsher conditions of unconsciousness. Blue sparks too began to fly from her wounds, some of which scattered across the floor and revived a few men taken out by sleepers.

"This magic stuff," Shelby grunted, taking aim and hitting a man close to Trent. "I think the world was easier before it existed."

"Magic's been around a lot longer than you have," Holly said, hovering behind her.

"That's not what I meant," Shelby sighed. "I meant before I knew about it."

"You might not know about it for much longer," Holly told her. "We may mind wipe you, when this is all over."

"A what?!" Shelby demanded shrilly. Franz, Nigel, and Laura glanced over, alarmed at Shelby's outburst, and shushed her.

"We'll only remove today's memories," Holly said, lowering her voice.

"But why?" Laura asked, catching the gist of the conversation. Artemis too raised his eyebrows, though for which emotion it was impossible to say.

"It would be dangerous to keep minds like yours in our loop," Holly explained reluctantly. "Particularly Otto's."

Shelby wince as a bullet whizzed past her ear. "Absolutely not," she said, recovering quickly. "I would rather die."

Holly frowned. "It will only be a few hours. It won't hurt"

"It's called property, fairy," Shelby said hotly, leaning down and taking count of the men still standing. "And I don't need anyone else inside my head."

Holly didn't quite understand what Shelby meant, but did not have much time to contemplate as a bullet grazed Butler's temple, and he fell, lapsing into unconsciousness. Artemis gasped, but Otto held him steady; all they could do was watch. Seven men still stood, and while normally this would be no problem for Raven, she was running low on energy, and remained unacquainted with the fairy technology that continually stunned her. She never gave up. With the occasional assistance from Nero, Darkdoom, or one of the students, she cleaved through the soldiers. She didn't let herself wonder whether she'd be able to see this battle to its end.

Across the room, watching distastefully and with her typical impatience, Opal groaned. "Can we speed this up? For Frond's sake."

Trent didn't seem to hear her, pulling his own pistol from his hip, and aimed carefully towards Nero. He could make this.

Laura looked to Otto for advice, but he did not respond. Instead he lay on the floor, not a drop of blood leaking from his pores, breathing deeply.

"What happened?" Laura asked. Artemis looked slightly embarrassed.

"I, er," he said, uncharacteristically fumbling for words. "Might have had an accident with a sleeper."

Laura sighed. "Help me roll him to the side."

Artemis reluctantly took Otto's feet and set him close to the wall, the maelstrom in his head threatening to seep through his guard as events seemed to spiral further out of his control. Laura shook her head, and looked back to where Trent and Opal were standing. Trent had not yet fired, waiting for the opportune moment, nor had Opal yet stopped trying to catch his attention.

And there it was—Trent's one shot.

"Sebastian Trent!" Opal shrieked, her voice rising an octave, dared to pound at him with her tiny fists. Her force was little, but it was enough to shift his aim. He decisively missed, the bullet deflecting off one of the warehouse's steel beams and deflecting back in their direction.

"Will someone take this out of here?" Sebastian called. His remaining men, now only five, did nothing—the mesmer too thick for his instructions to catch their attention. Sebastian groaned. With Nero's death so close at hand, he could not sacrifice victory for compliments to a spoiled freak of nature.

"What did you say?" Opal imposed, her eyes glinting with fury. Trent kicked her aside, allowing his frustrations to take the wheel, and let his remaining bullets fly.

Opal stared with utter contempt from where Trent had tossed her, blood staining her once-new outfit. "Immediate recall of all products sold to Sebastian Trent," she spat into her comm. With a deep whisper, she said, "Someday you will regret this, Trent. I promise you."

She slipped out of the warehouse, but Trent didn't notice until their weapons ceased to function.

"Drop the guns!" Trent shouted. "Retreat!"

Their weapons exploded before they hit the ground, but Trent was too late. He was the only man to run from the warehouse, and the screech of tires on asphalt announced his immediate departure.

Kicking aside limp bodies, Nero knelt down at Raven's side, where she had fallen from the unconsciousness. He felt for a pulse at her throat—it was there, but weak. He looked up at Holly, who hovered hesitantly. The look in Nero's eyes was neither a plea nor an order, but expectation lingered there and his dark eyes compelled Holly to descend.

"Heal," she whispered, and blue sparks immediately set to work sealing wounds and repairing seared flesh. With a gasp Raven's blue eyes flew open, and she shuddered as the full force of her own life revived her.

"How do you feel?" Nero asked. She sat up, the blade back her grin.

"Alive," she replied, and stood.

Holly watched the exchange mournfully. Humans brought destruction no matter where they went, and the floor was littered with bodies to prove it.

"We need to move," Darkdoom said. "Captain Short, can you help Butler?"

Holly ended up lending a few blue sparks to both Butlers, Wing, and Otto, and they were shortly led outside, away from the carnage Nero quickly sealed away.

"Now where?" Nigel asked, looking to his father for direction. Artemis looked to the sky, darkness beginning to fall.

"I very much doubt we are going to want to stay here very much longer," he said. "We will return to my hotel room. If you wish, you may call for transport there."

Nero and Darkdoom exchanged glances. "Thank you," Nero said. "Lead the way."

The rooms were not intended for a party of twelve people and one fairy, but they managed, everyone taking a quick rinse and sharing the crackers left in the cupboard.

"Foaly," Holly said. "Opal's still out in the open."

"No she's not," Foaly replied smugly, his centaur face smiling on the computer screen Artemis lent.

"No, she's not," Foaly replied smugly. "Two officers have got her shielded and cuffed, we'll have her back at Argon's A.S.A.P."

Holly smiled. "Good. I just need to clean up here and I'll head home." She looked around at her cramped surroundings, then commented, "Which might take a rather long while."

Butler kept a special eye on Juliet, however many times Holly reassured him the pulse would have no significant damage on his sister, and kept the other on Artemis, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor with the students who Raven had checked for injuries.

Shelby was noticeably the most unhappy, the last to come sulking out of the shower and grudgingly let Raven look for injuries.

"Are you all right?" Wing asked, when she sat down heavily against the bed.

"I'm fine," Shelby said, glowering into the corner.

"What's up?" Otto asked. Their peers turned over their attention to them.

"Captain Short wants to erase our memories, that's what," Shelby grumbled. Those previously unaware of this fact looked to Holly in a mixture of shock and horror.

Holly had the decency to look embarrassed, although she didn't say anything.

"Root wants to talk to you," Foaly said into Holly's earpiece. "All of you."

"All right," she said. She looked to the group. "The Commander wants a word."

The entire group quieted and looked to the computer screen. There was a slight flicker of interference, then appeared the image of Commander Julius Root, complete with cigar.

"Ah, Dr. Nero," he said. "What a surprise."

"Commander," Nero replied with a nod. Holly watched, finding herself surprised not only at the shared recognition evident, but the undertones of respect held for one another.

"You know each other?" Artemis asked incredulously.

"Oh, the LEP and G.L.O.V.E. have had their differences before, I'm afraid," Nero replied. "We keep tabs on one another, I know."

"Or tend to borrow from one another, occasionally," Root added, a little frown on his face. "I heard you got that Artificial Intelligence going."

"_They_ have an Artificial Intelligence?" Foaly squealed, visible at Root's side and making obscene gestures with his hands. "It's not possible! It's simply not possible!"

"Shut your trap, Foaly," Root ordered.

Darkdoom frowned. "Why have I never heard of the LEP?"

"And I've certainly never heard of G.L.O.V.E.," Holly added.

"It has proven to be a mutual benefit to pretend the other doesn't exist, most of the time," Nero said. "Excepting a few rare occasions."

"And if nobody objects we'd like to keep it that way," Root said. "No need for mind wipes. I'll have Foaly clear out that dummy information Opal splattered onto the Internet, Max."

"Thank you," Nero said. "I'll see that a suitable cover is found for the situation here, too, Julius. You won't be featured in the reports."

Root nodded appreciatively. "Very well," he said. "Then Foaly, get your rear in gear. I don't pay you to do nothing all day. Short, you get down here too. I want a full report on my desk by morning."

"Yes, sir," Holly sighed. She hopped to the window, almost taking off, before she realized. "I don't suppose that diadem is still around here, is it?" she asked Shelby.

With gentle hands Shelby unwrapped the diadem from where she had stashed it, and handed it to Holly. She smiled, and stuck it in her pack. With a last salute to all, she jumped to the window, and was gone.


	10. Chapter 9: Parallel

Doctor Nero found Artemis Fowl closely observing the H.I.V.E. students play basketball in the distance. Now that a ride was definitely on the way, Nero had given his wards permission to kill time however they saw fit.

"You know, I'm sure they'd be happy to have another player," Nero said. "I don't imagine you could do much worse than Franz."

On the court, Franz ran after the wildly bouncing ball, colliding with Laura and falling flat on his bottom. Artemis smiled, but shook his head.

"I'm afraid that interacting with my peers is one of my weaker points. Are there many of them?"

"Students?" Nero asked, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, it varies in number. Up to two thousand at most, but the numbers usually hover somewhere between a thousand and fifteen hundred or so."

"Initially I thought it was only a training ground for brute force, but you have proven me wrong. They're unusual."

"I value them for it," Nero replied. He forced himself to pause. "You could join them, you know."

"Go to H.I.V.E.?" Artemis mused, seriously considering the notion. He looked around, the options physically manifested before him.

"As an Alpha you would be trained to become a leader," Nero said. "You would have the opportunity to strengthen your mind and body, and learn to hone your individual skills, and I know there are many, among many other like minds."

Artemis perked, but another thought struck him. "Would Butler be able to come?"

"I'm afraid not," Nero said. "Unfortunately there are no exceptions: all personnel are to be left behind."

"I understand perfectly," Artemis nodded. "I can't go. Butler is more than personnel."

"It was worth a shot," Nero laughed. "But I'm not surprised. The Fowls and the Butlers are nigh on inseparable, so I'm told."

"And we wouldn't have it any other way," Artemis lilted, a note of pride in his voice. "Besides, I'm afraid I might be a little too involved with the LEP for me to ever turn to G.L.O.V.E."

"Perhaps." Nero glanced over at his own students, then back at Artemis. "Nevertheless, I fully expect you to continue reaching your full potential, Mr. Fowl. I do not tolerate slacking."

And with that, Nero left him.

The Shrouds arrived in due time, forcing both parties to finally bid adieu.

"Are you sure there's no contact off the island?" Juliet asked Shelby. "Because I could totally send you pro-wrestling clips you would just adore."

"No, no contact," Shelby shrugged. "But look me up in a couple of years—I'll be free then."

Juliet grinned. "I'll do that."

Across the room, Otto and Laura spoke quietly with Artemis.

"It's been a complete pleasure," Otto said. "This was fun. We should do it again sometime."

"Definitely," Laura agreed. "Keep yourself out of trouble, Fowl; we're going to have to arrange a play date in a few years so you can show us all your toys."

"Only if you bring along some of yours," Artemis said. "Keep doing what you do best."

"We will," Otto said confidently, although he had no idea what the next few years would bring. Regardless, their next meeting would be an event to remember.

Giving each other a soldier's nod, Butler and Raven herded their charges into the proper vehicles, where they waved at one another until the Shroud sealed shut. Another moment and the helicopter flickered into stealth mode. They were gone.

"Well that was fun," Shelby said. It was evening, and she had just enjoyed a lovely shower that had maintained a consistent temperature the entire time—a rarity now H.I.V. was gone. She flopped onto her bed.

"It was," Laura agreed. She didn't look up from her computer, her fingers blurring as she messed around with the machinery.

"What are you working on?" Shelby asked.

"Oh, just a bit of code Otto gave me," Laura replied. Shelby raised an eyebrow. "He swiped it off of Foaly; he thought we might play with it for a while."

Shelby grinned. "So much for pretending they don't exist."

The doorbell rang. "Come in!" Laura called.

Wing and Otto walked in.

"You have to see this," Otto said. The girls swiveled, giving Otto their full attention immediately, already aroused by the gleam in his eyes. Wing opened the library book he was carrying, and turned it around for all to see.

"It occurred to me that Gnommish resembles ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics," Otto said. "I started looking through a few books, just to confirm my hypothesis, and you'll never guess what I found there."

Wing slid his finger down the glossy page, highlighting Otto's find.

"No. Way." Shelby gasped, and Laura let out an excited squeak, for there on the decorated wall, chiseled thousands of years ago into sturdy rock, there was an image of a crown. A diadem, in fact, woven with gold and topped with glowing stones. Otto smiled, looking each of his comrades in the eye.

"Well then, ladies and gentlemen," he said. "Who's up for a fairy hunt?"

Artemis Fowl knew his recent acquaintances would not feature much on the Internet, but using a few of his father's old resources he was able to gather some information about them. The mysterious moon of Britain's previous PM, the Wraith, the Darkdoom family. They were real people with incredible accomplishments. He found himself impressed.

"What are you looking at, Artemis?" Butler asked, coming up behind him.

"Just admiring some work of the H.I.V.E. students," Artemis replied. "They were a very interesting bunch."

"You did seem to enjoy meeting them," Butler said. "Especially Otto and Laura."

"Yes," Artemis nodded. "They were completely on the same page as me, and they… cared, I suppose. Not just about what happened to each other, but also about me. What I had to say. A genuine interest, as equals. Is that what friends are like, Butler?"

"I believe so," Butler said, a slight smile on his face. He scanned the screen himself. "Where did you get this information?"

"I spoke with one of my father's old underworld contacts," Artemis replied. "So he gave me a few back doors into a few intelligence systems to find some reading material."

Butler was going to inquire as to exactly whose intelligence did he just break into, then he saw the flag in the upper left hand corner of the screen.

"Artemis," Butler said, just one breath away from scolding.

"Don't worry," Artemis said. "Thanks to Foaly they won't find out."

Butler sighed. "Very well."

Artemis was quiet for a bit, scanning through the short biography of Doctor Maximilian Nero.

"He offered me a place at the school, you know," he said.

"Really?" Butler said. "And you declined? I think you would have done well."

"I know," Artemis said. "But I think I've just dug deep enough into the LEP to start getting somewhere, and I wouldn't like to sacrifice that just yet."

Besides, he thought to himself. Where would I be without Butler?

"But you're still keeping tabs on them?" Butler asked.

"I've never had friends before, Butler," Artemis replied. "It would be a shame to lose them now. I intend to keep a close eye on them, and when they're next available we can invite them over to have tea and plan to annihilate mankind."

"Is that… wise?" Butler said carefully, knowing if they wanted to the H.I.V.E. students could indeed do as Artemis suggested.

"Come now, Butler, don't be such a downer. We have to entertain our guests somehow, and human annihilation is one of my favorite games."


	11. Chapter 10: Interception Code

Opal Koboi lay comatose in her hospital bed, strapped up and facing even higher security than she had before.

"That was too close," Commander Root said, his face beet red. "Argon, unless you can clean up your act I'll have Koboi moved somewhere else. She is dangerous!"

"Yes, sir," Argon replied, biting his tongue. He still didn't know how Koboi had escaped, even after hours of pouring over security footage. "It won't happen again."

"Good," Root said. "Your neck is on the line, Argon."

Dr. Argon gulped. He waddled away, glad that Opal was back where she belonged.

Opal, however, was not the only of her kind in this sleep. Tunnels away in her secret laboratory, there was another Opal, not yet matured, sleeping in an incubator. Her blank eyes saw nothing through the murky water. She did not know she was beautiful, she did not know her name, she did not even know she existed.

These Opals slept. One plotted, dreaming of her revenge against all of mankind, starting with Artemis Fowl. She would become a queen, as beautiful and terrible as the sun, ready to blind any who dared to look upon her infinite glory. She was radiant. She was the star. She was the most spectacular of all beings to have ever grazed the earth with her being.

The other thought of nothing. She might have been spectacular in her own right, a miracle to even exist, to even be possible. But this Opal did not take pride in it, she would not have even if she could feel pride in her wet chrysalis, waiting to emerge. She was somebody's copy, a thing, not a person to the rest of the world. Vegetable. If she could think, however, she might have wondered who she was or what her life would contain.

She had humble beginnings, the Other Opal, regardless of the expensive technology and the bumbling fools outside. Nonetheless, her blank eyes would see the passing of glory, and that came within a breath of living.

Sebastian Trent punched the wall, his knuckles splitting on impact, red fury radiating from his eyes. They had come so close! So close, and he would have had weapons that couldn't be defeated by humans… yet. It burned him. His strike against Nero had failed.

_It never would have worked anyway,_ he realized. _Nero may be only a mortal man, but his school is his fortitude. As long as H.I.V.E. remains he will never die._

It became clear what he needed to do. Not only would he destroy Maximilian Nero, he would obliterate his very memory from the earth, starting with his precious students. His name would sink so low it would be erased from human memory, and his organization sent to the deepest depths of Tartarus to rot. Then, and only then, could Sebastian Trent call himself the victor.

The intercom on his desk beeped. "She is ready to see you now."

"Send her in," Trent replied.

His stint with Opal had not been so worthless, when it came down to it. Without a shower of blue sparks he had bought off the pixie princess, his next great asset might never have resurrected.

A woman clothed entirely in white entered, her smooth mask denying any feature an escape.

"Welcome back, my dear," Trent purred. "I hope you're ready to start training. We have work to do."

Ghost stood tall, images of purple swords mutilating her sister's body flashing behind her yes. Trent could not see the scarred smile behind her mask, or feel her passionate hatred and infinite desire to avenge Constance. All he could hear was the single, clear word that sent shivers down his spine.

"Begin."

Ω


End file.
